Dallas Cops Take an Hour to Respond to Armed Robbery — and Wait Until You Hear the Reason Why

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A view of a .45 semi-auto handgun at the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual Convention annual on May 4, 2013 in Houston, Texas. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

A Dallas store manager was working at Pepe’s Grocery on Sunday night when a group of four armed men attempted to rob the place, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Joe Cho, originally of Korea, has worked at the store for roughly 17 years and saw the intruders demanding employees to turn over the money from the safety of his office.

Without delay, Cho emerged with his .38 caliber revolver and fired at least two shots at the suspects. They immediately fled, and Cho frantically called 911 to report the altercation.

Cho says he stuck around at the store for about twenty minutes and when help never came, he went home.

The Dallas Morning News continues:

Asked if he was surprised or upset by the Dallas police response to his call for help, he said, “upset, definitely.”

“Twenty minutes. What the hell,” said Cho, a native of Korea who moved to the area 30 years ago.

According to public records, it was nearly another hour before officers arrived at the scene at 12:15 a.m. Cho said officers called him at home after 1 a.m. and asked him to come back to his store, which he did, despite the fact that he was not at all happy about it.

“I’m at home safe, everything, I relax right now,” Cho said. “Then you call me about an hour something later, you want me to come back over here.” [Emphasis added]

The Dallas Police subsequently released this message:

The Dallas Police Department is currently looking into all the facts and circumstances surrounding the robbery offense that occurred at Pepe’s Grocery, 4819 Bernal Drive. One suspect is in custody however detectives are pursuing additional leads to determine if other individuals are involved.

Local media pressed the police for an explanation, and apparently a spokesperson responded in an email (via the Dallas Observer): “The caller had a very heavy accent and was speaking very quickly…The call taker had a very difficult time understanding the information and did not hear the caller say ‘shot’ or ‘shoot.’”

Police released the 911 audio, and you can listen for yourself. Would you have understood that a robbery had occurred?

Even if it is difficult to make out the words, would you have assumed a frantic 911 call would bring help, even if the operator couldn’t make out the exact context?